Clato The star crossed lovers from district 2
by Clove Athena
Summary: This is my take of the clato story. This is by far my favorite hunger games couple and i really wish they could have won. I plan on writing a whole story on them but for now this is just the beginning. I will try and upload at least a chapter each week. i own nothing. Not the characters or the image or anything.
1. Chapter 1

Epilogue:

My father was a Hunger Games victor. He won the games a year before I was born. My mother was a trainee, One year below him. She had great potential (or so they tell me). She was going to represent district 2 in the games before she got pregnant. She gave up her honour to have me. My father didn't want to know her after that. "She should have gotten rid of me" he said "dying in childbirth was just what she deserved". My father trained me before I went to the academy. As a daughter of a victor I had high expectations hanging over my head. It would have been unacceptable to him for me to be any less than great. I guess I never impressed him enough though because he never failed to remind me how much of a disappointment and a disgrace I was.

I entered the academy at the traditional age of eight years old. Every year a new group begins their training. They are mentored by volunteers, previous victors and some of the older students. They learn everything from knife fighting to spear throwing to Shinobi (the ancient form of fighting that ninjas used, also the deadliest form of fighting known to man). There is one other thing that a few district two trainees are selected to learn and that is breaking training. The mentors use physical and emotional torture to "break" the trainee, make them able to withstand pain and endure longer and harder. These are the ones that always seem to win. They are all trained for a total of ten years before they compete in "The Honour Trials", thus named because the winner gets the honour of representing district two in The Hunger Games. First the boys fight and then the girls. It's a fight to the death to select the best of the best to ensure an easy win for our district. This is done a month before reaping day so that any injuries have time to heal.

On my first day at the academy, Craven (the academies leader) sent all the new first years into the gym to try our hand at various skills and to see if we were any good. Some second and third years decided to come down and witness the show as they do each year. The first obstacle was throwing knives. While my father had been training me we had discovered that I happened to have a secret talent for throwing knives. I had an amazing aim and could hit any target he constructed for me with perfect accuracy since I was five years old. Craven lined us up and ordered us to try our best at hitting the bull's-eye. No one even came close, that was, until I had my turn. We were fairly close to the target (about three metres away). This is too easy I thought to myself. So I turned and walked away until I was at least 5 metres from the target. With a deft flick of my wrist the knife left my hand and landed smack in the middle of the bull's-eye. Shocked faces of first, second and third year students gawked at the unexpected sight. "Clove!" barked Craven "It would seem that you are in the wrong group, From now on you will train half of the time with the third years and half of the time with your own group, we wouldn't want you to feel unchallenged now would we" . I suddenly noticed the faces of the other students. A mixture of shock and fear registering on their faces. All except one that was. A muscly blond boy with golden skin and bright blue eyes who towered over the rest of his group of second years. He glared at me with a look of jealousy, hatred and menace. Obviously he thought he was the best of the juniors and he didn't appreciate being out staged by a puny first year that was at least half the size of the rest of his group.

His name was Cato and I was told that he was the toughest, strongest junior the academy had seen in years. All of the other students were terrified of him, but not me, I was intrigued. After my performance in the gym, the rest of the first and second years avoided me like the plague. They looked as if they were afraid I would slice them open just for looking at me (which might have been partly true), But not Cato. He would stare me down at any chance he got. Clearly he thought I was his biggest competition. This act lasted about a week before curiosity got the better of him and he was banging on my dorm door demanding to know what my deal was. Even back then I could tell that the blond haired giant was going to be nothing but trouble for me. Maybe I should have learnt from my father's mistakes and ran for the hills. My father always told me that feelings are a weakness that true warriors refuse to be taken by. My father loved my mother in his own sick and twisted way. He hated himself for being so weak and so cut himself of from her when he found out she was pregnant. The guilt ate him up until he drank himself to death. "Emotions can consume us if we let them" he told me. I guess he was right.


	2. Chapter 2

Reaping Day:

Today was the day. The beginning of the rest of our lives. He would win this year and I would win the next. Then we would be together in the victor's village for the rest of our days. I have no doubts that we will succeed. People always said that separately we were two of the greatest, most feared fighters district 2 had ever seen, but together, we were an unstoppable force of nature.

We didn't bother training against anyone else unless we were ordered to. By the time I was a sixth year and he was a seventh year we were the strongest fighters in the academy. Cato was the only one who ever challenged me. Sometimes he would win and sometimes I would. The only person I have more scars from is Craven himself.

I spent last night in my own dorm to save him from any distractions. It's the first night in years that I have slept in this bed and it feels alien to me. I know he will win, but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that maybe something would go wrong and maybe I would never see him again. I have been listening for his footsteps since I woke up three hours ago and sure enough at 8am sharp I hear him attempting to creep into my dorm unnoticed. He thinks he's being stealth, but my hearing is too sharp and he's to heavy footed to trick me. I know he's standing behind me now and I spin around grabbing his wrist, knocking him to the floor and planting my lips on his. He doesn't even look surprised, just disappointed. "One of these days I am going to get the better of you my love and you will be terrified" he whispers in my ear. "Couldn't even stay away for 8 hours could you" I taunt "You know we can't let them see us like this outside of the dorms, I'm not going to see you for weeks and I want to make the most of it now" he pleads. He leans forward and gently kisses a particularly large scar on my lower right rib. I received it as punishment for insulting Craven once in training. It would have been much worse, but Cato had convinced him to give him the punishment instead. He had taken 20 lashes and I had escaped with one cut. I hate to see Cato in pain. Weather he's taking lashes for me or weather he's injured himself in combat, but I also know that rampaging around and demanding things aren't going to make a difference. It will only get us both hurt. I can be furious inside, yet still think with a clear head and a rational mind. Cato is the opposite. His temper, although useful in combat, can be one of his greatest weaknesses. He tends to act on impulses, without thinking things through. Like when he took those lashes for me. I was already bleeding a great deal from the cut and Craven wouldn't have given me much more, but all Cato cared about was that Craven didn't lay another hand on me. Everyone else (even Cato) casts their eyes down in fear whenever they are around Craven. Not me though. I grew up around men like him. Craven is nothing compared to my father. Cato tells me that my brain and my mouth are too big for my own good. I know he's right. "Stop analysing things in your head clove. Live in the now and enjoy our time together before I have to leave". I sigh and reluctantly give in to him. I don't want him distracted but I know he will sulk right up until his victory tour if he doesn't get his way.

We leave for the gym at 10. We don't have to be there until 11 but we know Craven will expect us to get in some last minute training. Cato's wrist is still giving him trouble. He injured it in the Honour Trials. I know I can be a distraction to him sometimes. As he can be for me. It was all my fault really. Some girl had placed bets against Cato and I was arguing with her. The idiot thought that because the other guy was from a family of victors that he could beat Cato. As it happened, the other guy never stood a chance, but when the girl (who obviously didn't know who I was) pulled her knife on me and I turned it on her, let's just say that she wasn't around to pay her bets later that night. Craven wasn't too happy about it either and dragged me from the gym. Killing without permission is forbidden and Craven knew all too well that I was skilled enough to protect myself without killing her. Cato had his wrist snapped behind his back as he was watching me being pulled behind Craven, a trickle of blood running from my nose where he had hit me.

How's your wrist? I ask. It will be completely healed by the time I have to go into the arena he says. Regardless, I don't think you should use your fists today. Wouldn't want to go into the arena with an injury, we still have no idea who your competition is this year and you never know there might be someone bigger than you. "Doubtful" he winks at me. I turn to see Thea (a 3rd year I have been mentoring). Everyone knows Cato and I are together, but we would never display our affections and feelings in front of anyone. All people see is witty banter and teasing between two best friends. If it weren't for the fact that us sharing a bedroom is common knowledge or the way we publically defend each other, they would have no idea. "Getting in some last minute training before the reaping Cato? As if you'd need it" she gushes. Thea has always openly flirted with Cato. It's earned her a few scars from me in the past. It wouldn't be so annoying if Cato didn't flirt right back. He always tells me that she reminds him of a young me and I know he's doing it just to get under my skin. Of course I'm not threatened (she is just an 11 year old ginger runt) but she needs to know her place. Everyone at the academy except for a select few are terrified of me. I have a reputation for hurting those who get in my way. Some say I'm a little sadistic, and Thea forgets that sometimes. She may adore me and idolize me but sometimes she runs her mouth of without thinking and pays for it later.

"Thea where busy so go and annoy someone else" I snap. We only have a few hours left before the reaping and I don't want these memories tainted by that ginger twit." Fine"! She sulks and turns out of the room. "You don't have to be so hard on her you know" Cato drapes his arm around me and we are back to our private selves for the moment. "She just annoys me sometimes and besides I want you all to myself this morning" I say as I tilt my chin to kiss his lips. I know everyone else will be sleeping in or eating in the hall so we can be ourselves for a little bit longer. We don't even train as we had planned. Instead we sit in each other's embrace and enjoy the morning off like everyone else. This gym is our sanctuary .We spent many days and nights in here together teaching each other. He was right about living in the now and for once I am quite content with being still and doing nothing.

1pm rolls around and we make our way to the square where the reaping is held each year. We don't hold hands or hug goodbye. We just break of into our age groups. Me with the 17 year olds and him with the 18 year olds. A nod of the head is all the goodbye we need. I turn my attention to the stage where our district mentor Scarlett is standing. She has bright red hair, deathly white skin and what appears to be metallic gold eyelashes and eyebrows. Not as outrageous as some of the capitol fashion I think to myself. Sitting behind her are this year's mentors Brutus and Enobria. I chuckle to myself when I think of how many times Enobria has trained me back at the academy. I'm sure the capitol knows but it's still funny to think that this is not the first time either of them have trained kids to kill. Looking at everyone's perfect reaping day outfits I'm suddenly aware how much of a mess I must look. I didn't even brush my hair or wash my face. I'm aware that men consider me attractive. I don't really see it myself. My skins too white, my hair too dark and some say my pale blue eyes are so piercing they are almost demon like. Cato calls me his snow white sometimes. Hair black as coal, skin white as snow, lips blood red. He's full of it really but I guess I do resemble some likeness of the ancient fairy tale character. Still, I'm sure no one would consider me remotely attractive today. My tangled hair is falling loosely around my shoulders and I'm still in my track pants and singlet (showing far too much skin for my liking). The 18 year old girls group is right next to me and I can almost feel Silver smirking at me. She's the girl that won the Honour trials and will be joining Cato as his district partner. "It looks like you haven't changed at all this morning Clove" she taunts. At least I won't be dead in 3 weeks I think. Silver has always had a thing for Cato. Too bad for her he's never even given her a second glance. She knows he only has eyes for me and it's why she hates me with a passion. I know she would never have the guts to insult me away from the prying eyes of the peacekeepers. She's tried a few times and I've given her reason enough to not try again. She knows she's no match for me. She doesn't exactly move away or look down in fear like the others, but she would never openly challenge me. You can laugh your way to your grave Silver I respond. That shut her up I think as she quickly turns away.

Suddenly the screen flashes and that awful video they play every year begins. It's so repetitive you'd think they'd switch it up for once. I don't pay much attention and instead work at fingering the knots out of my hair. Once the film is over Scarlett gets strait into the selection. She starts with the boys, calling out the name of a greasy haired 13 year old; I didn't even notice his name. All eyes are on my lover as he saunters forward and raises his hand to volunteer. My heart swells with pride. "What's your name young man" asks Scarlett in an obviously patronizing tone "Cato" he answers in a strong and dominating voice. She almost jumps back at the sound of power reverberating from this giant of an 18 year old. We don't have surnames at the academy. Craven believes that we should earn our own names later on in life and not be defined by our parent's names. Everyone is clapping and cheering for him now. It's as if he's won the games already. Everyone quiets down again as Scarlett gets ready to call the girls name. "Clove?" She calls into the crowd. Everyone is silent now waiting for Silver to come forward. I can't believe they called my name I think. What are the odds? I don't worry though because I know that any minute now Silver will volunteer and take my place. Those are our rules after all. A minute passes and everyone is still silent waiting for someone to step forward. I look over to see silver grinning at me with a smug look on her face. She's not going to volunteer I realise with horror. How could she? Easily I thought. Silver had no interest in being a victor. She's clearly certain that Cato will make it back and she will have him all to herself. Craven glares at her. He knows that if I'm sent this year then he might not get any victor at all, but he can't do anything with the peacekeepers around. Craven realises its futile and gives me a nod. I reluctantly make my way to the stage. Everyone is cheering again as they realise that two of their favourite fighters will be battling it out. Very few outside the academy know of our relationship. I try to look as calm and collected as possible when I shake hands with Cato and smile for the cameras, but I can't help notice the murderous look he's giving Silver. Whichever one of us that makes it out of this is going to have to make her pay.


	3. Chapter 3

The Train:

I hear the deafening roar of the crowd and see the faces of my fans screaming up at me. I see Craven in the background pulling Silver along by her hair. I focus my attention back on the stage. I can't bear to look at him though. I can feel his eyes on me, burning holes in my back. I don't acknowledge him but instead follow the peacekeepers into the citadel. I have to stay strong now. What would my potential capitol sponsors think if they saw this supposedly terrifying career breakdown on stage? And if I do look at him I will breakdown.

The peacekeepers lead me down a hall and into a small room. I hear him calling my name as he is led into a similar room. I don't even turn around as he demands I look at him. No one will come to say goodbye to me. I have no family. My half-brother died in the honour trials three years ago and both of my parents have been long dead. The only person I had expected to see on this day would have been Cato, but that was when I thought this would happen in a years' time. I know only one of us can win and it will take everything I have to make sure that one is him. I know he will just as easily die for me as I would for him, but I won't let him. He has protected me all these years and now it's my turn. Cato never needed protecting. The most I ever did was talk reason into him when he was about to do something stupid. Like when Craven had finally had enough of me and had beat me to a bloody pulp. Cato was convinced that sneaking into his room and slitting his throat was the only possible course of action to take. Apparently that was more rational than taking him on in public as he knew he wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight. As for the sneaking into his room, I knew he wouldn't even get close enough to try. Craven was too strong and too smart. It had taken a lot of convincing to talk him out of that one, and it would take a lot of convincing now to make sure he didn't sacrifice himself for me or something as equally stupid as that.

I can hear screams from the next room. Glasses smashing, doors breaking and frightened peacekeepers begging for mercy. If silver thinks she has a chance with him after this then she's delusional. He's more likely to strangle her than succumb to her. That is if Craven hasn't already killed her by the time Cato gets back. The door opens and I expect to see Cato, but it's Craven instead.

"Your boyfriend has made quite the mess out there, that's some temper he has". "I know" I reply. "I need you to do something for me" he crones in that velvety poisonous voice of his. "I need you to make sure that one of you comes home, now I know that Cato isn't the rational one in this relationship and I know there will be no reasoning with him now so I'm going to let you figure this one out. If he wins you need to take measures (before you die) to make sure he doesn't do something stupid such as killing himself, and if you win you need to promise me you won't do anything stupid either." "I promise you'll get your victor Craven, but it won't be me I reply, like hell I'm going to let him die for me after everything we've been through". "That's my girl" he says as he pets my shoulder. He turns and leaves without another word. My conformation was all he needed. As the door opens I can see a peacekeeper being carted out by a stretcher. His leg twisted at a weird angle and I smirk to myself at the familiarity of the situation. This isn't the first time Cato has hurt people for simply being in his way when he's in one of his tempers.

I don't see him again until we are on the train. Now we are in the presence of Scarlett and our mentors I guess I have to finally acknowledge him, but now it's Cato who has chosen to ignore me.

He's obviously hurt that I wouldn't even look at him before and now he's sulking like a schoolboy who broke his favourite toy. Cato? I ask timidly "Oh so now you're speaking to me? Well I am honoured your highness". "Don't be a prick Cato, you know this is hard" I respond. "Well whatever you had before the games are over now so you're just going to have to forget about each other Enobria chimes in. You are allies now and nothing more". "Shut up Enobria before I rip you throat" out snarls Cato as he storms from the room.

The rest of the day is a blur as I absent mindedly pick at a single cup of sorbet at the table. Scarlett chatters on about some rubbish in the capitol. Apparently miniature pet potbellied pigs are all the rage now and hers (named Felix) is getting his hair dyed gold today. Why on earth you would want a spray painted pig is beyond me. Capitol people disgust me. The fact that their ludicrous outfits make them look extra-terrestrial isn't even the worst of it. They are so shallow and self-absorbed I sometimes what to cut off their tongues for some of the things they say. I decide to scare Scarlett with my fantasy. "Scarlett darling I purr. She spins around with a big grin on her face thinking I'm going to have "girl talk" with her. If you don't shut up I am going to climb over this table and cut your tongue out with this steak knife. Ok?" I say in the sweetest most innocent voice I can conjure up. She stares at me dumbfounded before she spins on her heels and runs from the room, tripping a few times as she goes." I thought she'd never shut up "Enobria stupidly throws in her 2 cents. "Just shut up, everyone just shut up!" I scream and take my lovers lead by storming into my own room just as he did. Cato's way of dealing with this feels pretty good right about now.

I stay in my room for the rest of the trip. As we arrive at the capitol I can hear Scarlett starting up again trying to convince Enobria and Brutus that the capitol is by far the most magical place in the world. She's calling us to come and look at the sights and wave at the capitol citizens. I bury my head in my pillow. I don't think I could stand another minute of her whiney voice and her blind naivety. The train comes to a halt. We must be here I think. The bright colours and flashing lights of the people and the city confirm my suspicions. I leave my room to see Cato waving and blowing kisses from the window. Well that's one hell of a transformation I think. Apparently, according to Cato, the crowd already loves us. As they should. District 2 is the crowd favourite every year. We are the obvious choice for sponsors because we are the strongest fighters by far. "You missed the recap of the reaping last night" Scarlett pipes up. "None of them will be any competition for either of us so I couldn't care less to be honest" I reply. Scarlett gives me her best frown and Cato grins at me as if to say he completely agrees. Maybe we can finally talk about what to do once where in our suites. I know I wasn't ready to last night. No matter how many times he knocked on my door begging me to talk to him. I just needed some time to myself, but now that where here I know I have to spring into action and take control before it's too late. As we leave the train I hold my head high and give the crowd my best look of confidence and superiority. I then work at pushing my way through the crowd and glaring at anyone who stands in my way. Eventually people are moving out of the way for me just as they would at home. They seem almost scared of me and I love it. I grin smugly at the looks on their faces. This act only makes them cheer louder. The capitol loves arrogant district 2 careers. Give the crowd what they want Clove I think to myself. Cato follows in my lead and shoves the capitol spectators out of the way as he joins me at my side. I come to the conclusion that where definitely going to have no trouble with sponsors.


	4. Chapter 4

The Tribute Parade:

Once we are off the train we are led into a massive building shaped like a hexagon. The first sector of the building is called the remake centre. The remake centre is where the tributes go to have themselves transformed into something that meets the Capitols standards of beauty. I remember in previous years, I wouldn't even recognize some of the tributes from reaping day because they had been so totally destroyed by stylists who looked as though they thought they were decorating wedding cakes rather than people. Once inside Cato and I are led into two separate rooms. In my room I am greeted by what I am told are to be my prep team. One man is skinny and tall. He has dyed his skin a sickly shade of green for some bizarre reason and his jet black hair has been piled on top of his head like an ice cream swirl. He tells me his name is Bale. Next to Bale there is a short, overweight woman who is decorated in interesting baubles that are coloured pink and yellow. Her name is Tinsley. Stupid name for a stupid looking woman I think. On the other side of Bale there is another woman named Shea. The combination of her dark skin and bright orange outfit causes her to sort of resemble a Jaffa. Tinsley bounces forward and screeches is an irritatingly high voice how pleased she is to meet me. She thrusts her hand in my face obviously meaning for me to shake it. Not at all in the mood I snarl at her "get that thing out of my face before I chop it off". Tinsley gasps and takes a step backwards. I can tell Bale and Shea were already keeping their distance. They obviously know of district 2s reputation. This pink and yellow ball however seems to be entirely incompetent or else just plain stupid as she attempts to grab my arm and pull me over to the table. "She's new" Shea apologises to me. "Let's just get this over with before I use her as a live target practice for my throwing knives" I sneer to Bale and Shea.

Once I'm on the table they prepare what I can tell is a hot wax used to remove hair. "I don't have much hair on my body" I tell them quickly. Back home I shave regularly with razor blades I steal from the medical ward of the academy. "I'm an athlete so if my body is hairless it creates less friction when I'm running and makes me go faster" I explain. I tried to teach Thea how to shave with a razor blade once. Sure it's nothing like those fancy shavers they use here in the Capitol, but it's still not that hard to use. Thea acts as if it's a poisonous snake every time and refuses to touch it. For someone who loves knives she sure is scared of razor blades, but we all have things we can't handle, for me its rats. Once you've been locked in a drain as punishment by Craven with nothing but rats to keep you company and gnaw at you all night it's understandable. I know Craven has a passion for razors and maybe that's why Thea detests them. "Well that's a pleasant surprise exclaims Tinsley; it really cuts our job in half". "We can just get onto your hair and make-up then" says Bale. Suddenly I can hear screams coming from the other room. Some are Cato and some are scared capitol citizens obviously trying to get out of his way. As far as I can tell they are trying to wax him. It's funny how someone who can endure 7 hours of strait torture at the hands of Craven can't handle a little hair removal.

For two hours I lie there while they work on my hair and make-up. It would have been quicker had Tinsley not been pretending that my hair was full of tracker jackers that were going to jump out and sting her. "You really are quite beautiful says Bale; the combination of your features are somewhat of a rarity you know? Very few people with hair as dark as yours have such pale blue eyes and such pale skin". He must think I'm going to slice him if he criticizes my looks so he's sucking up and complimenting me instead. I don't like compliments very much. I never believe people anyway when they say nice things about me but since his opinion means nothing to me I shrug it off. I turn to the mirror instead and think I look twice as terrifying as I looked when I came in. That's good though because I would have had to kill them had they made me look frilly and girly like some prissy district 1 tribute. District 1s specialty is luxury so their tributes are always dressed in something over the top and "glamorous". My eyes are rimmed with thick black, my normally dead strait hair is hanging loosely in glossy curls almost down to my waist and my lips are painted in a shocking shade of blood red. My eyes in particular look so haunting they startle me. People have always told me that my unusually coloured eyes are ghost like or demon like, but with the thick black around them they look almost inhuman. "Are you going to remove my scars? I thought you capitol people like your tributes smooth and shiny" I say not particularly wanting to part with them but curious to see what I would look like without them. "Oh but darling, the scars make you look all the more frightening and that's the exact look we are going for" says Bale. They leave me to mull over my new look while they go and get my stylist. She is some woman whose name is Eloise who I have seen on the TV before. She has been a district 2 stylist for years.

Eloise is relatively friendly but keeps her distance just like the others. We don't talk much as she fits me into my costume. It's a gold gladiator type outfit with a matching headdress of gold olive leaves. I had seen similar outfits in the history books about Rome (an ancient city thousands of years old). The gladiators were people who were ordered to fight to the death in an arena against each other for fame, fortune and glory. Seems wildly appropriate I think. I can tell this outfit is going to be the most terrifying by far. Gladiators were meant to look that way to intimidate their competition. "Perfect, you look like a roman queen, beautiful yet deadly" exclaims Eloise. I can't help thinking that she's right as I examine myself in the mirror with an expression of smugness on my face.

Once she's done I'm sent into the hall to wait for Scarlett and Cato. Scarlett comes to check on us but seeing that Cato is far from done, hurries of at the risk of saying something to provoke me. I spend my time thinking of ways to talk to Cato without sending him into one of his rages. Judging by his screaming in the next room I can tell he won't be in the best of moods. He takes another hour and a half before he joins me in the hall. He's obviously had to have had a lot more work done than me. His skin is tinted slightly pink and not from dying it either. It's as if they waxed every inch of his body and I can tell he's not too happy with the world right now. His outfit matches mine. It's a gold gladiator skirt with gold boots and a gold olive leaf headdress. The most interesting part is that they've chosen to make him go shirtless. His chest is egg shell smooth from the waxing and his scars stand out like connect-the-dots on his bare chest and biceps. His muscles really are quite impressive I think, and the gold headdress matches his blond hair nicely. "Can we talk?" I ask almost in a whisper not wanting to set of his temper knowing that he's in the right mood for it. "Got over yourself did you" he snaps. "Okay I deserved that I reply; however we need to stop what where doing Cato. We can't run in circles acting like mentally unstable children. I can see his mood softening. I'm not even going to start on whose making it out of this alive but if we want either of us to survive we need to pull our heads in and learn some self-control when where in public. No more outbursts, picking fights or hurting capitol citizens. Ok?" "Fine he answers without even putting up a fight; you always were my voice of reason Clove. I'm sure I would be dead by now if you hadn't always been there to talk me out of killing people you knew I couldn't. He gives one of his sweet smiles he only ever gives me. You look like the most beautiful creature in the world right now by the way". He winks at me just as Scarlett walks up to us. "Very impressive you two" she trills as she claps her hands, "Let's get you off to your chariots". She turns and practically skips down the hall expecting us to follow.

We are led into a large room with spiky metal chariots and large black horses waiting for us. All of the other Tributes are here and I realise that this is the first time I have seen them. I didn't even bother to watch the recap of the reaping and I have been so self-absorbed for the past couple of days that I haven't even given them a second thought. They all seem to be petrified at the sight of us however and I am glad our costumes and our reputation are having the right effect. Cato, clearly reading my thoughts points some of them out to me. Unlike me he actually did watch the recap. Apparently district 12 has had their first ever volunteer. Her name is Katniss Everdeen; a name I think is more suited to someone from district 1. Her district partner has large arms but apart from that is seemingly unremarkable. The girl from district 1 (Cato tells me is called Glimmer) has to be the most strikingly beautiful girl (or should I say woman) that I have ever seen. She has a mass of golden curls teeming down her back. Her eyes are bright blue and her skin is tinted golden from the sun. She is tall for a girl and her slender legs seem to go on forever. She is busty and curvy in all the right places and I can tell that all the capitol boys will be tripping over each other for a chance to sponsor her soon enough. "She's one hell of a beauty" I say to Cato. "Sure, if you like that sort of thing. I prefer my girls to be exotic and interesting, like you, he winks at me. I'm not a fan of blonde bimbos either" he replies. I hide my surprise. I know Cato loves me more than anything but I never thought he would find me more attractive than someone like Glimmer. "That really has to be one of the worst names I've ever heard though" I state. Cato smiles at my response. Compliments make me uneasy and he knows it. He stopped insisting I was beautiful years ago. The next one he points out is the girl from district 5. She has bright red hair and skin as pale as mine except dotted with orange freckles. The reason he picked her out was because unlike the others, she didn't cast her eyes to the floor in fear when we looked at her. She's not as afraid of us as she should be and I want to find out why. Glimmers partner (Marvel) is some cocky looking boy who is grinning and waving to everyone. Clearly he thinks he is the greatest thing here and is treating this as one big joke. District 4 looks unimpressive for careers and the only other district that stands out is 11. The boy from 11 (Thresh) has to be almost as big as Cato. His muscles are huge and he towers over the others. The girl (Rue) is tiny and must only be 12 or 13. I don't think it's right when first years are put in. Mainly because it gives us no solid competition but also because I know they stand no chance. District 1 is dressed in a ridiculous mass of pink feathers that resemble a pair of flamingos. The other outfits are similar to what they do every year. Mine and Cato's outfits are the only ones that don't make us look like some wearable arts model, except for maybe district 12, but then again plain black suits are pretty boring. Even if they are meant to be coal miners, their stylist could have been a little more creative than that.

District one is in their chariot and is making their way out the gates when Scarlett orders us into our own chariot. We stand side by side as our horses follow district 1 and as our chariot goes through the gates I find myself holding Cato's hand under the rail where no one can see it. That one touch is what's going to get me through this I think. The parade hall is filled with people screaming and cheering our names. District 2 is already a crowd favourite as the crowd starts to chan 2. Our gladiator outfits seem to have worked. People are going crazy over the terrifying and intimidating couple from district 2. Some are cheering Glimmer's name but most are calling for us. Marvel seems to be getting no attention at all and I feel no sympathy for him as his arrogant grin is turned into a pouty frown. None of the other districts get much attention as Cato, Glimmer and I seem to be getting all the cheering from the crowd. That is until district 12 makes their way through the gates. I turn around to see their black suits are ablaze with what can only be fake flames. All of a sudden, the banners which held our faces now show the faces of Katniss Everdeen and her district partner Peeta Mellark. They are smiling and waving at the crowd like a pair of awe struck idiots and the crowd is now cheering only for them.

We line up in our chariots in front of a podium at the end of the hall. At the podium is President Snow himself. He proceeds to give his speech he gives every year about the glory and honour of the Hunger Games. I don't even concentrate on his speech because all I can think of while standing their squeezing Cato's hand is how much I want to crush that "girl on fire" and her partner and how they will be the first to die for stealing our thunder.

Once the speech is over our chariots leave into another room and we are told to go to our suites. All the other tributes are dispersing into elevators pretty quickly, wanting to get this long day over and done with. Each district has a level on the building that is only for them. We make our way to the elevator and press 2 just as Katniss and Peeta step in after us. Peeta reaches for the number 12 when Cato grabs his hand. "You should grab another elevator "Cato growls. I'd listen to him if I were you, I join in not wanting Cato to break the rules and get himself arrested. I know he's just as mad at them as I am. "Unless you want the cleaner to be scraping your corpses of the walls of this elevator come morning" I add. Peeta tugs back his hand and rubs his wrist as if hurt. I hope he isn't because the game makers would penalise us for that. They both shrink back out of the elevator, looking down so as to not make eye contact with us. "What happened to not starting fights Cato" I snap at him, you know what will happen if you hurt them now. I want them dead just as much as you do but we have to save it for the arena ok?" He doesn't answer but instead turns away. He knows I'm right and he seems upset that he almost lost control. So he should I think and turn away from him. However we are so raging mad and electrically charged with adrenaline right now, only a miracle is going to get us through the next few days without hurting someone I think.


	5. Chapter 5

The Training Centre:

Our suite is truly beautiful. There is a table laden with exquisite delicacies from the capitol, intricately detailed tapestries on the walls and space age furniture that looks more expensive than our entire academy. I'm not hungry though and chose to sit it out. Scarlett is already screeching for us join her at the table. I ignore her and instead lock myself in the closest bedroom I can find. I don't know if this is where I'm meant to sleep but right now I honestly couldn't care less. I am exhausted and emotionally drained. I know I have been in denial for the past couple of days and maybe it's just catching up with me, but as I sit on the edge of the bed I feel as if I can't breathe. I wipe my hand over my face and bring it away to find that it's wet. I can't believe I am actually crying. I haven't cried since I was 6 years old. Craven always said that crying was a weakness that wasn't allowed and if anyone did cry he would beat it out of them. I quickly learnt to bury my emotions around him and eventually it became second nature. I didn't even think I was capable of tears anymore. One of the rumours at the academy was that I cut my own tear ducts out. They like to tell stories about me. I tend to let them because I know it helps my fearsome reputation. If only they could see me now I think.

After a couple of hours I hear his footsteps approach my door. Just like our last morning together at the academy. I can always tell when it's him. He can try to sneak up on me all he likes but he will always fail. "Can I come in?" he asks softly. I pad over to the door and unlock it, checking my face in the mirror to make sure that there is no trace of evidence that I was crying. He doesn't say a word, just guides me to the bed and lies down next to me. I know we shouldn't be doing this. It's going to make it that much harder once where in the arena. I know we should discuss what where going to do but I can't bring myself to spoil the moment. Right now I just need his comfort. I know it's pathetic but I don't care. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me in closer. I bury my head in his shoulder and listen to his breathing. The rise and fall of his chest that is so familiar to me it feels like home. I haven't used a pillow in over 4 years. His chest has been all the pillow I need and the last 3 nights without him I have felt so empty. I am grateful that he doesn't speak and I savour every moment as we drift off to sleep in each other's arms.

The next morning I awake to a steaming hot coffee and a bowl of fresh fruit next to my bed. I am grateful as I know I wouldn't be able to stand another morning with those pretentious puppets. We still have 2 hours before we have to be in the training centre so I savour my morning and take a long hot shower. I braid my hair into a black plaited bun on top of my head and fasten my district token into my hair. It's a silver hair pin in the shape of a viper with aquamarines for eyes. It's not very big, no bigger than a nickel but I love it because Cato gave it to me. The aquamarines match my eyes he told me. It's not such an innocent, romantic gift as everyone would think though. Only Cato and I know it's true purpose. The pin is very sharp and when it is embedded in someone's skin it releases a toxic poison created by Craven himself. The poison is undetectable so I am confident that it will go unnoticed by the game makers. The poison causes intense pain on contact, paralyses within 10 seconds and kills within 60 seconds. Cato said it suited my personality perfectly. He often compares me to a viper. Deadly yet beautiful, clever and never trusting anyone (except him of course).Cato's district token is a necklace I gave him. It is a tiger's tooth pendant set in silver. It's very valuable and rare in our district. Tigers have been extinct for over a century but some people (lucky or rich enough) own a tooth. My father was given the tooth by our mayor for bringing honour to the district first as a victor and then as a trainer. It was one of his most prized possessions. I gave it to Cato right after we became friends. As much as I hated my father I felt that the pendant was meant for Cato and I had no reservations in giving it to him. He always reminded me of a tiger. Big, strong and vicious yet soft and loving when he wants to be.

I change into the training uniform given to me and meet Cato at the elevator. Training is actually something I have been looking forward to since it will give me a chance to show off my skills and intimidate the other tributes. Intimidation is something I am very good at. Cato and I often take pleasure in making the younger trainees shake in their boots. I have been waiting for a chance to rough up that bloody "girl on fire" ever since she showed us up at the tribute parade. Training will also give us a chance to make some allies. As district 2 tributes we pretty much have our pick of allies. Every tribute will undoubtedly be lining up to offer themselves to us in the hopes that they will survive the first day. I see Cato rounding the corner. He looks very smart in his grey, black and red outfit and I don't hesitate in telling him so. He grins like he's won the lotto or something. I don't give him compliments very often so he soaks it up. Scarlett decides to sit this one out as she does with most of the events that involve me. I know she is scared of me and I like it because it keeps her off my back. Brutus and Enobria never seem to be around anywhere, but then again I have been hauled up in my room this whole time so how would I know. "Who should we pick as allies?" Cato starts as if reading my mind. "I was thinking we could observe. Especially district 1. I don't like Marvel, he seems like an arrogant little prick but there is something about the girl glimmer I can't quite figure out yet. The boy from 10 would be a good choice since he seems to be the second biggest after you of course. District 4 seems like a waste of time". "Why don't we let them come to us and decide later" he continues. We step into the elevator together and watch as it continues upwards to pick up more tributes. The elevator stops at 5 but as soon as the boy sees us he runs off down the hall. Obviously our reputation precedes us. I hear that Cato seriously injured a member of his prep team yesterday. If I was able to hear that rumour hauled up in my room then the rest of the tributes undoubtedly heard it too. We press the button for the training centre and carry on.

As we enter the training centre I notice all eyes are on us. Everyone is here except 12. As I sweep my eyes over the other tributes I see their own eyes flick away so as to avoid eye contact. Good, that level of fear will cause them to act irrationally and do stupid things once where in the arena. I hear the elevator door ping behind us and I swivel around to meet the timid gaze of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. I stare her down challenging her to push past me. I know I'm blocking her only exit. I can tell from her stance that she isn't an amateur and I want to see if she really is trained as Cato says she is. "Excuse me please" she says in a shaky voice trying to sound confident but obviously failing. I step aside and allow her to walk past as I give her my smuggest grin I can muster. Peeta almost clings to her as he trails behind. "See, I told you she had guts" Cato chimes in. "You still think she's trained then" I ask him. "Without a doubt" he replies.

We decide to do the full circuit, leaving out the survival stations. Cato and I are trained enough in survival. Granted where also highly trained in fighting but it would be a good chance to show the other tributes what we can do. We are given the drill. The usual no fighting with the other tributes and such. The first station is sword fighting. I chose an elegant samurai sword and work at a stick of wood in front of me. I chop off each section clean with perfect accuracy and strength. Cato goes next and chooses a massive modern sword which is so heavy I can't even pick it up. He gets to work on the wood and ends up smashing it to smithereens with strength I have never seen another possess. The other tributes look at him in horror as if that piece of wood could be their heads very soon. We make our way to the spear throwing station and Cato ends up dominating that too. The strength in his arm is so strong that he ends up splintering the target board and moves on to dummies instead. Glimmer approaches us and introduces herself. We don't talk much but I can tell already what her angle is going to be. Make all the boys fall in love with her so that they will never see it coming when she turns out to be ten times stronger and ten times more skilled than them. She keeps a safe distance from me only speaking directly to me when she has to. By the way she is standing I can tell she is very threatened. The boys all seem to be staring at her as if she is the most beautiful creature in the world. She flicks her hair and smiles at them lapping it up. Marvel, her district partner seems to be making a big game of everything. He is practically skipping as he makes his way around the room scaring the other tributes and laughing like a complete maniac. "You know you could get their attention like I do, Glimmer says to me. You are beautiful. It's just that you scare everyone so much they are too afraid to look at you in that way". "Thank you for your wise words Glimmer but I don't need to work that angle. I will have no trouble killing everyone here based on my skills alone". "Even him?" she asks gesturing to Cato. "He doesn't worry me" I reply in full honesty.

Glimmers logic may be warped but it's true. Boys stopped trying to win my attention a long time ago. If I didn't chop their hand off for touching me or cut their tongue out for talking me up Cato would be in their punching them until he was sure he got his message across. Cato and I arrange with Glimmer to team up with her and Marvel. District 10 didn't want us. He thinks he will be betraying his district or something ridiculous like that. We flatly refused to team up with 4. They seemed nothing but cheap imitations of us. They try to be tough and but they just look awkward. Like a child driving a car. They are obviously way out of their depth. A few others have approached us but since no one else even comes close to meeting our standards we refuse them to. The rest look at us in envy or fear always turning their heads when we look at them so we don't know they were looking at us. As if we would be that naïve. I go over to the rope net and prepare myself to climb when I feel someone pinch my bum. I whip around quickly in astonishment to see who would be that stupid and I see Marvel grinning down at me. "Hey sweetheart" he says. His grin quickly changes to fear and uncertainty when he sees the expression on my face. Obviously he expected to me to laugh it off or giggle like some school girl. He didn't expect a look of menace, hatred and murder. He takes a step backward and bangs into the metal pole securing the net. I hit him in the chest winding him and then kick his legs out from under him. Once he's on the floor I knock myself onto him. Securing his legs with my knees, holding his arms above his head with one hand and using my other hand to crush his windpipe. My thumb cuts of his air and I can hear him gasping for breath. A small red vessel in his eye bursts from the pressure and I know he will be dead in a matter of minutes if I don't loosen up. "Clove!" I hear Cato scream with urgency behind me. He puts a hand on my shoulder and I soften at the touch. "Save it for the arena" he begs. I release Marvel and get off him giving him my best warning glance. "If he tries anything like that again I swear ill kill him!" I yell both at Marvel and Cato.

No one even dares to look at me for the rest of the day and even the trainers seem too afraid to tell me off. I know if I had killed him I could have been executed. I vow to myself silently that I will enjoy killing him slowly. The last station is the throwing knives. I know it's my specialty but at this point in the day I am just bored and tired. Cato sits this one out. His aim isn't the best when it comes to small objects. Give him a spear any day and he will kill anyone you point to in seconds. Give him a throwing knife or a gun and he will struggle to hit the simplest of targets. I throw a few and hit them all on the bull's-eyes. I decide to step it up a notch and work at throwing 2, 3 or even 4 at the same time. Still hitting them dead on I think it's just far too easy. I then throw them and sink each knife into the handle of the last lot I threw. When I look at the dummies I realize each bull's-eye has a stack of 5 or 6 knives all stuck into the handle of the last protruding from the target.

When I look around the room I see every pair of eyes are on me. There are mixed looks of fear, shock and horror. Glimmer gives me a smug look like she had me figured out from day 1. Usually I'm not that easy to read but I take it she's very good at reading people. It's one of her specialties besides seduction and manipulation. Not bad for a first day I think. Already the other tributes are terrified of us and we have 1 ally who is not a complete idiot. Marvel doesn't seem to be his usual bouncy self after our encounter but at least he will be easier to control now. Cato comes and tells me that he's recruited the boy from 3 into our pack. "He thinks he can use his skills to reset the mines so we can use them to our advantage, maybe use them as a trap to protect the supplies". If he can do it I think he will be a valuable ally. I'm sceptical but agree with Cato that we should at least see what he has to offer before fobbing him of completely.


	6. Chapter 6

The Interviews.

I meet Glimmer on the roof to discuss strategies. So the girl isn't as bad as i originally thought. She suggested we meet up here. She said she spent last night here with Thresh trying (unsuccessfully) to recruit him. I knew he would never join us. He's too proud. "He doesn't think i'm that bad, but he thinks that you and Cato are positively psychopathic" Glimmer says. "Maybe he's right" i reply. "I think its all an act, I think you have more heart that you let on and your terrified of showing it because it might make you look weak (I hate how she can read me so easily but I really only have heart for Cato so maybe she's not as good as she thinks she is although I don't let her think so). I don't have to worry about that since everyone thinks I'm an idiot anyway, I'm not as smart as you of course, Cato tells me your some genius or something. I am smarter than i look though." She says. "I know what it feels like to be underestimated i tell her. People constantly think I'm weak because of my size. You can imagine their surprise when i overpower them in 60 seconds flat. It's an advantage actually. people don't expect you to be nearly as strong or as skilled as you are so they don't try so hard. They think your gonna be easy to take down so they tend to let their guard down and make more mistakes". "So whats the deal with you and Cato?" she asks me. "Nothing I reply. We trained together and we were always at the top of the leader board at our academy". "So there is an academy? We always heard rumors but I never though they were true".She looks astonished. "yeah, you live at the academy and train for 10 years and in your tenth year you compete in the honour trials. The girls go first then the boys and the last girl and boy left standing gets to represent our district in the games. It's also a good chance for us to get used to killing people, although most of us have already killed before. I was meant to go next year since i'm only a 9th year but our girl who was selected this year failed to volunteer. I don't blame her though because not many would stand a chance against Cato" I know her true motives though I think wondering if Craven had killed silver yet. "It's nothing like that in our district. Glimmer continues. Each person is trained individually. I was trained by my mother. When we think where ready we sign up and compete at the local fight club against others who want to do this and the winner gets to volunteer. I've never killed before though. Its just a fight club not some crazy fight to the death honour competition like what you've got going on".I'm shocked at what i've just heard. I always assumed all the career districts used the same kind of system we did, although, looking at the other careers this year I had begun to think differently. There is no way district 4 could be trained like us and still be as pathetic as they are. Glimmer definitely isn't what I thought she was. She sure is much smarter than I originally thought. However it was a mistake for her to tall me as much as she did. I will never underestimate her now.

I meet Cato back in the suite. He's sitting at the dining table eating with Brutus and Enobria. So our mentors decided to show up tonight. "Sit down" Enobira commands. "I'm ok" I reply not really feeling like joining in on their district 2 reunion. "Where discussing the interviews Clove" Cato joins in. I reluctantly saunter over to the table and join them. I pick at a black cherry as Scarlett starts to rattle on about the importance of the interviews. "Clove will have no trouble tomorrow Enobira says. She's naturally intimidating and thats the angle we will be going for this year". I'm surprised that Enobira is talking like this. I think she was giving me a compliment but I cant be sure. All those times she beat me to the ground telling me I was worthless and she secretly doesn't hate me as much as she pretends to. "Who have you chosen as allies" Brutus asks. District 1 and the district 3 boy, Cato pipes up. He thinks he can restart the mines and that we can use them to our advantage". "If he can do it he will be valuable says Enobira, otherwise kill him if it turns out he's lying". Enobira smiles slyly at me and flashes her gold fangs. She won the 62nd hunger games after she ripped another tributes throat out with her teeth. This was her signature move so as a result she had her fangs immortalized by having them capped to a sharp point and then having them dipped in gold making them a very effective weapon. Enobria isn't my favorite person in the world. She has trained me on numerous occasions and due to her complete lack of human emotions has proved to be a cold hard bitch. "Are we done here" I ask bored and sick of looking at either of our mentors. "Go and get some sleep dear" trills Scarlett. I ignore her and instead make my way to the roof.

Cato arrives on the roof five minutes after me carrying a hot cup of something and an armful of blankets. "It's sweet tea" he says handing it to me. "Thanks" I reply. He drapes a purple blanket around my shoulders and sits next to me. He pulls me closer and whispers in my ear "i'm not going to let anyone hurt you". That was what I was afraid of I think. If he's busy protecting me he wont even try to win. "Promise me something Cato" I say. "Depends" he replies. "You have to swear that if I don't win you will" I beg. "I wont promise that" he says developing a brooding look in his eyes. I knew he wouldn't which means that I have to force him to promise. I have to make sure he will win. Just how I do that is the real question here. "I knew there was something between you two" Glimmer steps out from behind a pillar. She must have been here this whole time i think. Cato quickly withdraws his arm from around me. "I could see from day one that you two had some connection I just never thought it would be romantic. How _are_ you going to make this work" she quizzes. "Suddenly I can't take it anymore. Everyone continually analysing me and asking me what i'm going to do. I have no idea what i'm going to do. Right now I just want to get away from the perky blonde who already knows far to much about me. She's smart and I can already see it in her eyes as her brain ticks over thinking of a way to use this information to her advantage. I know that iv'e lost him now. Glimmer will try everything to use him against me. For the second time in 3 days I feel my eyes well up with tears. I hate being so fragile and emotional. This is not who I am . I throw the blanket of off me and storm past her. I press the close button on the lift before either of them can follow me.

An hour later I hear a knock on my door. "Go away" I snap. "Clover, he pleads, let me in". Once again I wipe away my tears and unlock the door for him. He pulls me into a big bear hug almost crushing the life out of me. "I have a plan, he tells me. Don't be mad but I kissed Glimmer". "What!" I scream pushing him away. I consider cutting his head of with the silver tray sitting on the table next to us, but then I see his face and my better judgement tells me to hear him out. "At least let me explain before you attack me" he pleads. "You have 5 minutes" I say giving him my best death stare. "I think iv'e successfully convinced her that you and I are just friends and its her i'm really interested in. I can tell she likes me and if we pretend where in a relationship it will cause her to lose sponsors. Think about it Clover, the majority of her fans are love struck teenage boys and once they see her cosying up to me they will lose interest in her. Besides it will keep her off our back. I might be able to gain sponsors from this too. Some will see me as a bad boy playboy and others will see me a a caring guy. Either way its a win win situation". He finishes with a hopeful look on his face. "Look I didn't plan it its just that it was the only thing I could think of in the moment and you ran off so fast". "Fine, I respond. It actually seems like a half decent plan to me, but do you think you will be able to pull of this big act? You do realize your going to have to pretend to like her at all times". "I can do it he assures me, as long as your comfortable with it". "As long as its me you come home to and as long as you don't sleep with her or else I will go Enobira style on you and bite off your unmentionables". " wouldn't dream of it, you know i'm doing this for us" he says. "I know, and I have to add that it was an unexpected stroke of genius on you part" I say as I lean up and kiss him gently on the lips. He pulls me down onto the bed and plants me with kisses everywhere. I cant believe that we only have two more nights of this. In three days we will be in the arena and I will have to pretend to be ok with Cato touching and kissing Glimmer while he has to pretend to be in a relationship with her. I make the most of the time we have left and roll myself on top of him and return the kisses and more.

The next morning I wake up to a searing pain on my back. Cato is still sleeping so I sneak into the bathroom to see long scratches down my back. Great I think, these wont be healed by the time where in the arena and what if Glimmer sees them. I take a long hot shower and go to have breakfast. I wonder what Scarlett has planned for the interviews. She tells me that after breakfast I will meet my stylist Eloise. Cato joins us at the table and runs his hand over the scratches on my back. There covered with a shirt but he knows their there. "I'm sorry" he leans in and whispers in my ear. I give him an annoyed look and carry on with my breakfast. I'm not worried about the pain. I can deal with pain but its the possible speculation I might get from anyone who sees it that bothers me. "I'm going to pretend to be in a relationship with Glimmer" Cato announces to Scarlett and our mentors. He explains the plan in detail before letting them speak. "I think its a brilliant idea" Enobria says. Brutus nods in agreement. It looks like everyone agrees. Our mentors are happy that it will cover up our relationship too.

I meet Eloise at the remake centre so she can style me into ice queen perfection. She pulls out a flowing orange chiffon dress that is in no way intimidating. "Why are you putting me in this thing I question you know our angle is fear and strength?" "I know, she replies, but it wont hurt for you to gain some male attention. I will make your eyes dark and I will pull your hair back so you still look frighting but the dress will make you look womanly at the same time. Remember our beautiful yet deadly angle, I haven't forgotten that yet". When she's done I am the epitome of beautiful yet deadly. The orange dress looks like wisps of flames flicking around my ankles (take that girl on fire I think) and my eyes are every bit as frightening as Eloise promised. They are rimmed with thick black and grey. My hair is pulled sharply of my face and draws all the more attention to my eyes. I meet Cato in the hall and he is dressed smartly in a navy blue suit. He looks clean and polished. Nothing like the rough, sweaty, dirty boy I know from back home. "Don't let Glimmer see you looking at me like that" I tease. He smiles and we carry on down the hall to the interview room. Cato stands by Glimmer and flirts with her. Nudging her with his elbow and smiling at her. I pretend to be friendly with them both and Glimmer looks satisfied that we are just friends. The poor girl has obviously got it bad for Cato and has no idea that he's playing with her.

I don't pay much attention to the interviews. Glimmer hints to the crowd that she has met a special someone, Marvel boasts that he will win and that he thinks he is the strongest tribute in the competition but as he glances our way his voice become shaky and he suddenly doesn't seem so sure of himself. I play the mysterious card and tell everyone the usual. That i'm going to win, that i'm the strongest, the highest skilled. I even believe myself. When Cato goes on he doesn't even looks at me . He tells the crowd that he will win and the usual. When asked if he has a special someone back home he shakes his head and says that he met a pretty blonde that he likes but he doesn't know where its gonna go yet. So he's pretending to be a playboy I realize. The cameras focus on Glimmer backstage as she giggles and covers her mouth to hide her smile. The crowd goes wild. It turns out that Katniss's dress has flames around the bottom too (although hers are real ones) as she twirls around playing out the girl on fire theme once again. I really cant wait to rip her throat out I think to myself. The real shock is when her district partner Peeta announces to the crowd that he is in love with Katniss. She seems just as shocked as the rest of the crowd as the cameras focus on her. This is really going to be an interesting year I think to myself. There have been so many unexpected turns that I am hopeful the game makers will go easy on us and not feel the need to introduce any unwelcome surprises into the arena.


	7. Chapter 7

The final night.

It's the last night together before we have to go into the arena. Our training scores were released today. Cato and I both received a 10. Disappointing since I was going for an 11 but it will have to only so much I can show them when i'm perfect at everything. I guess they get bored of watching district 2 tributes going through the motions and mastering every station every year. It pays to have something different. Katniss Everdeen got an 11 which is just another reason for me to slit her throat as soon as we get into the arena. I don't like being showed up and that bloody girl on fire seems to be doing it a lot lately. I don't know why she insists on getting under my skin at every chance she gets but she hasn't made things easy for herself. As of today, with that training score, she will be on everyones hit list and i'm not about to feel sorry for her, she brought it on herself.

Cato and I are forced to be apart as Glimmer wants him to go onto the roof with her. We both know that if he said no it would raise suspicions. Still, I hate being in his room alone with nothing to do except think about what they are doing up there. I decide to go for a walk . Where not allowed in the training centre with out supervision and we are not allowed weapons in our rooms. I always throw knives to calm me down. Maybe the reason i'm always on edge here is because I cant do that. I sneak down to the training centre and pick the lock on the door. I turn on the lights to see a shadow sitting cross legged on the tarmac. It's Marvel and I think he's crying. I shouldn't judge since I have done my fair share of crying since I got here but I am so angry about Cato and Glimmer up on that roof that I don't care. "If you don't prove your worth keeping around we might chose to dispose of you sooner than we planned" I hiss behind him. Marvel jumps and spins around. His expression is a mixture of fear, embarrassment and sadness. Not an ounce of defiance or courage (which is what I had been expecting). Where was that cocky know it all from training. The one who had pinched my bum and almost lost his life for it. "If your going to kill me can you just do it now, i'm sick of living in constant fear of you and that monster and and its just not worth it if she loves him is it?" I don't know what he's talking about at first but then I click. So Marvel really does have a thing for the leggy blonde. To bad for him she's not pretending about her feeling for Cato (or so I think). "Did you know each other outside of the games?" I ask him. "I admired her from afar, she never looked at me twice except for when I won my match in fight club. That night was the best night of my life. Glimmer always had a thing for the strongest guy and that was always Dean. He was supposed to win the matches and join her this year but he broke his back in a fight and he hasn't been strong enough to fight since. He's in a wheel chair now. She dumped him as soon as he couldn't fight anymore. When I won that match I became the strongest guy and suddenly she was interested in me. I didn't even think about what I was going to do when we got here. She made it perfectly clear that we were a temporary thing. Then she saw Cato. Its funny though because I always thought he liked you the way he looked at you and always came to your defence". Wow Marvel was more pathetic than I thought he was to genuinely love a girl like Glimmer. At least he would be easy to control and I did feel sorry for him. Glimmer screwed around with guys to get her way. She didn't hide it and she seemed to be proud of it. It made me sick. "I think you should focus on the games Marvel. Glimmer wants you distracted so you will be easy to trick and kill. If you win you will find a million Glimmers to replace her".

I leave him at the risk of sounding too soft and walk over to the knife throwing station. I throw a few at the targets not even thinking about it but hitting the bulls eye each time. Marvel watches me with the fascination of a curious 4 year old. "How do you do that?" he quizzes. "I don't know, iv'e been doing it since before I can remember. Its second nature to me". He gets up and attempts to throw a few. He only manages to hit the dummy once and even then its far of the bulls eye. He watches me as I throw a few more and tries to copy. "I don't think you should try learning something completely new, we are going into the arena tomorrow". He shrugs, wipes his eyes and leaves. I don't think he was trying to learn to throw knives, I realize, he was just lonely. At least i'm alone now I think. Maybe I should have said something a bit more comforting but I am in no mood to play friends with Marvel. I don't do friends. The only person other than Cato who I have shared stuff with was Glimmer. I shudder at the thought. I cant believe I was so stupid to share those things with her. They weren't my deepest darkest secrets but still I shared more than I should have.

With every knife I throw my temper rises. I feel my face flushed and I am clenching the knives to the point where my knuckles are turning white. I have to stop thinking of them up on that roof. If I keep thinking of them together i'm going to hurt someone. I take a deep breath and focus my thoughts on strategies I could use in the games to keep Cato alive. Im suddenly aware of a sharp pain in my hand. I look down to see that I had been clutching the wrong end of one of the knives. The blade is firmly embedded in my palm and a puddle of blood has formed on the ground where my hand hangs down with a small trickle of blood running down my fingertips. Shit, I am going to have a hard time explaining this to people it think. I let go of the knife and let it drop. The sound of the knife clanging to the ground is a stark contrast to the deafening silence in the training centre. The blood streams out of my palm. Now iv'e done it. I look around for something to stop the blood flow and find Marvel standing behind me. He has his shirt in his outstretched hand offering it to me. "Thanks" I say and take the shirt. I wrap it around my hand and wince at the pain. He gives me a look as if he thinks i'm crazy. "I thought you were supposed to be an expert at those things" he says pointing at the bloody knife on the ground. "I am I snap, I was just a bit distracted". "I can tell. You going to tell me whats got you so distracted then" he asks. "No" I reply wrapping the shirt tightly around my hand. I turn to walk away and see Marvel picking up the knife and wiping it on his pants. "What are you doing" I ask. "Cleaning up your mess so some capitol person doesn't notice" he replies. I cant believe Marvel is being smarter than me right now. I get a bottle of water and a towel from a side room and clean with him. "I'll get rid of this" he says taking the bloody towel and walking off. I take one last look at the room before I leave. What the hell just happened I think. Marvel was actually nice to me. Maybe he's not the tool I first thought him to be. I walk out to the elevator and see him waiting. He looks so sad I almost feel sorry for him. He must really love Glimmer I think. We ride up to our floors in silence. He stares at his shoes until we reach his floor. He's on the first floor of suites so he gets of first. Marvel baffles me sometimes. He can be so cocky and arrogant one minute, scared and timid another then sad and genuine the next. I think I am actually beginning to pity him.

In the suite I go to the bathroom to deal with my hand. I unwrap Marvels blood stained shirt and wash off the blood. I realize that my hand is going to need stitches. How the hell am I going to explain this one. I find Brutus in the living room and think i have the best chance with him. "Brutus" I quiz. He's sitting on the couch sipping a whisky with his legs crossed like some capitol ponce. I had an accident and I think I need stitches" I say. He sees me holding my hand and walks over. He grabs my hand and inspects the damage. "I'll call the doctor but you had better come up with a good excuse for that before he gets here". He walks away and leaves me to think. When the doctor arrives I tell him I was having a mid night snack and cut my hand on a knife. A half decent excuse I think and it seems to have worked. He doesn't use stitches as I thought he would but instead uses a thick yellow gel and literally glues up the cut. He then bandages my hand and leaves with out saying a word. Brutus comes up behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders. I shudder at his touch. "I payed him not to say anything he says. No one believed your pathetic story so it was a good thing I did, and I know you were in the training centre by the way". I watch him as he walks over to his chair and sits down. Now, he exclaims, you can do something for me". "What" I ask hesitantly dreading his reply. "One kiss, he answers, from the most beautiful girl in district 2. The girl who only gives herself to one boy. The ultimate, unattainable prize". I know that if I don't he will run back and tell everyone. I swallow hard and reluctantly walk over to him. He stands to meet me and pulls me in with a hand on my waist. I put a hand on his cheek and lean up meeting his lips. Brutus is handsome and hundreds of girls back home would kill to be in my position, literally but hate him right now more than I hate anyone. When its over he brings his hand down to tilt my chin upwards so I meet his gaze. "Don't forget that if you make it out of this i'm here and i'm waiting" he says and then walks away. I shiver at the thought of what just happened and run to Cato's room. I fling myself onto his bed and bury my head in his pillow, feeling myself crying yet again.

I wake up sometime later to Cato lying beside me and stroking me hand. For the first time ever I didn't notice him enter the room. He finally managed to sneak up on me I think. "What happened to your hand" he asks furrowing his brow. "Nothing, just an accident I reply and roll over. "Brutus made me kiss him, I blurt, I went down to the training centre and he said if I didn't he would tell everyone". Cato tightens his grip on my hand. I pull away as shooting pains run up my arm. "Sorry" he quickly stammers when he realizes he's hurt me. "Just another person to add to our list when one of us gets out of here" I reply brushing off the fact that he hurt me. I roll back over and rest my head on his chest. He smells of apples and I remember that he was with Glimmer. "Clover" he starts before I cut him off. "Don't, I beg. Lets just be quiet and savor our last free moments together" I say as I hold him. I feel him nod against my head and I drift of to sleep as we hold each other.


	8. Chapter 8

[Note: so sorry this is a really short chapter. I have been so busy lately and I promise to write more this weekend but this is all I managed to write this week.]

The Arena.

I awake to a sliver of light flickering over my eyelids. I realize I forgot to shut the blinds last night and the sun is just rising. I can tell from Cato's breathing that he is awake too. I lie as still as I can so he wont know that i'm awake and I lie there with my head on his chest not wanting this moment to end. "Hows your hand" he asks me. Of course he knew I was awake. "It's fine" I reply. "Better than fine actually". I look down at my hand and notice that it doesn't hurt at all. That magical capitol glue must have worked. "We have to be downstairs and in the hovercrafts at 10" he says. I don't say anything. I cant. All I want is to forget about the hunger games and go home. Back to my flawed, imperfect life which I never appreciated until it was gone. I cant help thinking that this is not how its meant to be. He was meant to win and come home to me and I was supposed to go next year and win too. Then we could live together in the victors village. It's not that i'm not ready for the hunger games. I am. I could kill every one of those other tributes no sweat, but I could never hurt him and I know that they would never allow the both of us to win.

After an hour I realize we should be moving so I reluctantly untangle myself from him and make an effort to get ready. I don't feel like eating but I know I should. Usually the careers have the supplies to themselves so they don't go hungry, but one year the game makers didn't have any food in the arena just so the capitol would have the pleasure of watching everyone starve to death, and this year might be the same. I force myself to eat an apple but give up after a few bites. Im too nauseous to eat anything.I see Cato in the elevator as we make our way downstairs. Once the door closes he pushes the stop button on the elevator and turns to me. "Promise me that whatever happens you want stop fighting, that you'll keep going and never give up" he holds onto my shoulders and squeezes them hard as if trying to force me to do what he wants. "Didn't I give you the same speech a few days ago" I ask him. He looks defeated as he realizes I will never make that promise. He lets go of my shoulders and pulls me into him wrapping his arms right around me. I rest my head against his chest and close my eyes. We stand there soaking in each others embrace for longer than we should have. When we finally let go of each other I reach up on my tip toes and cup his face in my hands. The last kiss we will ever share I think as our lips meet. I feel his tears run down my fingers on his cheeks. Like myself, Cato hasn't cried since he arrived at the academy. "I fucking love you" he whispers in my ear. I start to turn away so he doesn't see the tear roll down my own cheek but change my mind and pull him back to me and kiss him harder than I ever have. His eyes are still slightly puffy but only I would be able to tell that. I push the button and the door opens with a bing.

On the hovercraft i'm seated next to Katniss. She takes one look at me and then casts her eyes down to avoid meeting my gaze. Her hands are shaking and her eyes look like a deers trapped in headlights. She's terrified I realize. Maybe she's not the trained hunter we all assumed her to be. A man in a white suit injects a tracking device into my arm. Im the first one to have it done and the others all look to me to see if it hurts. Being trained in torture has it advantages and I don't even flinch when the long needle injects the flashing light under my skin. The others look satisfied and the girl across from me seems more than happy to offer up her arm. When she realizes its not as painless as she first thought she screams and jerks her arm away with pain. I smile to myself. The others are all ready for the pain and wince, shut their eyes and some even sob. Katniss, however only slightly flinches. She realizes I have been watching her and is trying to appear calm. I give her props for trying. I look up as the the hovercraft trembles and lifts into the air. The sensation of flying is so foreign to me that for a split second I start to panic. I realize soon enough that I have nothing to worry about. I look over at Cato to see him giving me a knowing stare. I quickly look away before anyone can see us. Where not even in the arena yet and already his act is failing.

We arrive at another concrete building and are taken below into separate rooms. I give Cato one last look and he brushes my hand as he walks past me. I meet Eloise in a tiny room where she fits me into dark olive cargo pants, a red singlet and a reddy brown raincoat type jacket. Its pretty basic but it gives me no clues as to what the arena has in store for me. Eloise isn't one for talking. She instead hands me a glass of water and tells me to drink. I force myself to drink the whole glass before stepping onto a concrete platform surrounded my a glass tube. I see a red light flash as the tube closes itself around me trapping me. I have always wondered what goes on in these last few moments leading up to the games. I look down at my hand to see a fresh pink scar in my palm. Its incredible how quickly it healed. It would have taken over a month for it to get to this stage back home. I run my finger along the scar and think about how Cato did the same last night. Thinking about him brings a tear to my eye and I quickly jerk my thoughts away from him before I become an emotional wreck. The platform starts to raise and before I know it i'm in a large grassy field surrounded by a forest. I see the cornucopia ahead of me and focus on it intently. I know i'm probably the fastest here and as we had agreed upon earlier its my job to make it there first and secure the weapons. Cato is to my left next to marvel and I am next to Katniss and the foxy girl from district 5. I look at Cato and he nods at me. This is it. The clock is counting down and I steady myself ready to sprint. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...


	9. Chapter 9

The Bloodbath (sorry this took so long).

kneeling in the bloody carnage of the fight i wipe my hands on my pants and stand to take a look at the horrific scene unfolding before me. Its a fucking mess i think to myself. I'm holding a knife i retrieved from the back of my third kill, droplets of blood dripping off the tip of the blade. Cato is sauntering my way triumphantly. Glimmer, Marvel, and the girl from district four are with us. The boy from four was too weak and was cut down by Cato as previously agreed upon. The boy from three escaped earlier. My theory was that he tricked us so that we wouldn't kill him in the initial bloodbath. Although we had previously turned down the girl from four she had proved to be a worthy fighter and was allowed to live. They are gathering weapons and checking bodies for movement. You were slower than usual out there Cato smirked. I killed way more than you. Shouldn't you go and check if your girlfriends alright i retorted. He looked hurt, but only for a second. He stared blankly at me and then walked off. I know i shouldn't have treated him like that. I agreed to this .

It was my turn to be hurt then as he took Glimmers face in his hands and kissed her softly on her forehead. The gamemakers will be loving this. I started to head over to the others when i heard a noise in the bushes behind me. Curious, i stalked forward. Pulling back the bushes i peered into the helpless face of Peeta Mellark. District twelve, i sneered at him. He was as frightened as a mouse cornered by a cat. He had a large cut on his arm that was oozing crimson blood.

Get up i snarled at him, yanking his hurt arm. He screamed in pain as my fingers dug into the cut. I snickered at him. How could a person be so pathetic and weak. Of course not everyone is trained to withstand pain and that cut looked like it would probably hurt. I loosened my grip and continued to drag him back to the cornucopia.

The look on everyones faces when i dragged him into their sights was priceless. I had managed to actually capture one of the tributes we had agreed upon killing first. No one else had. I would keep secret the fact that it was incredibly easy to capture him and completely by accident that i found him.

I smiled at them smugly. Marvel looked unhappy that i had outshone him and walked over to a tribute who was lying twitching on the ground and stuck his spear into her back. She let out a blood curdling scream and then went limp. We had managed to secure the cornucopia easily and all the weapons and supplies were ours. There were a few backpacks that had gone astray but we had managed to keep all the weapons from the cornucopia.

Glimmer sat on a box and wiped her sword clean. Her golden hair had come loose from the plaits she was wearing and it hung loosely around her shoulders. Her face was beaded with sweat and her biceps rippled as she roughly wiped the blade, the blood proving to be more difficult to remove than she had initially anticipated. She looked so beautiful that a pang of jealousy hit me. I noticed Cato looking at her intently. He walked over to her and brushed her hair behind her ears. Waves of jealousy swept over me and i forced myself to stare blankly at them all. Adamant not to show how much his display of affection was bothering me.

After i had tied up the prisoner i went to scan the area. The arena was beautiful. It reminded me of the forests in district two where we used to train. I climbed a tree to view my surroundings. From the top i spied my fellow careers lounging around. They looked happy and contented. Things had gone exactly as planned and they felt safe enough to relax. I, however was not laid back and remained intent on properly securing the area. I wa about to climb down when i spotted something unsettling. Cato was stroking Glimmer's hair as they talked. Winding a strand around his right index finger he pulled her face close to his and kissed her passionately for everyone to see. For the first time since we arrived here i was suddenly nervous about what was to come. What if Cato genuinely liked her and was using the charade as an excuse to get close to her. Did i have some real competition to worry about. Anxious, i returned to camp. Glimmer looked smitten with Cato and he was doing his best to look equally pathetic.

The crowd would be thoroughly enjoying the romances this year. Two star crossed lovers. Or so they thought. Angrily i snapped that the area was clear. On closer inspection of my prisoner i realized that he had acquired a new friend. The boy from district three was tied up next to him. He had tried to run away earlier and Glimmer caught him and brought him back Cato remarked.

Well then i exclaimed cutting his rope with a knife from my belt. You better get started. If its not finished by tonight i'll cut your throat myself i snarled pointing my knife at his jugular. You're more angsty than usual Clove, Marvel exclaimed. I shot him my signature death stare and he abruptly went silent.

As night fell everything was silent. Birds chirped in the trees, leaves rustled in the wind and the careers curled up to each other as the air got cooler. If i didn't know this place was man made i would never have guessed. Cato and Glimmer were intertwined in each others arms. The air was cooling down and i could see my breath. Cato looked at me with a longing he reserved only for me. It was no use though. Even though i knew his heart belonged to me i couldn't help but be fearful that he desired her too and was using the situation to his advantage. I turned away unable to bear the sight anymore.

I slipped of my shirt so i could put on my vest of knives, forgetting i had long scratches down my back. Who are they from Glimmer teased. No one i replied feeling my face heat up with embarrassment. Cato looked nervous and let go of Glimmer. It was Marvel i exclaimed defeatedly. What! Glimmer couldn't hide her surprise and anger. Well when you dumped him he needed someone else and i was bored. There's nothing else to it. He was lonely and i was bored. When Glimmer looked at him Marvel he cast his eyes down pretending to be ashamed but really hiding the fact that he was just as shocked as she was.

Later he approached me. Why did you say that he prodded. I had been expecting this and i was ready for an answer. I decided letting Marvel know the truth was ok as long as i didn't tell him the whole truth. I used you as an excuse to hide the fact that i'm screwing Cato i said. He raised an eyebrow but didn't look too surprised. I knew you two were more than just friends he answered. So what's he doing with Glimmer then? She almost caught us so we ended things and now he has a thing with her. Things were never serious between us. We're just friends who occasionally sleep together. Now he sleeps with Glimmer. I didn't want Marvel to know too much so stretching the truth was easy. He looked satisfied with my answer. I'll be your decoy he said. On one condition. What i asked hesitantly. You make it look like you're madly in love with me. Why? Because i want Glimmer to think that you do. She'll never buy it Marvel. She knows me better than you do. She knows i'm not capable of love. Fine he sulked, but you're not as lost on love as you think.

I watched him walk back to camp with a triumphant look on his face. Glimmer thinking i was sleeping with him was enough to make her jealous and the look on her face was one i will remember forever. Maybe Cato was just a strategy and she really did care about Marvel. Time will tell i thought to myself as i strode back to camp.


End file.
